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All-Star Batman #5 from Scott Snyder and John Romita Jr. was one heck of a gift as it perfectly balances the tight-rope that is dark humor, violence and Batman. Snyder is clearly honed in on his vision for Batman in All-Star, and the My Own Worst Enemy arc wraps up in a fashion that I imagine will leave most readers extremely satisfied.

This one hooked me right from the beginning with the hilarious dateline RIGHT NOW, and then Batman saying " ... not right now." I'm a sucker for stuff like that, especially when it's coming from the scowling face of the Dark Knight.

There's a lot of things in motion storyline wise as Alfred has somewhat betrayed Batman, Jim Gordon is in Wayne Manor about to suspectedly burst into the Bat Cave and Duke, Two-Face and Batman are nearing a possible cure for Harvey.

Well, Snyder wraps this all up nicely with a class Bruce Wayne secret to protect his identity with one hell of a "man cave" joke, a swerve in the Two-Face business and a wink from Batman to close the issue out.

The thing that I love most about this issue -- and series -- is how Snyder balances between the dark humor and absolutely over-the-top gadgets, villains and relationships without taking away from the story.

This version of Batman is truly the all-terrain-vehicle in the Batsy family, just as Snyder said when he came onto the Court of Nerds. There is so much personality in this version of Bruce/Batman, that it feels very refreshing.

We see this childhood relationship between Harvey and Bruce, and it adds a layer to each character that has never really been there to connect them beyond the surface. Romita step in and takes on the unenviable task of a flashback panel, and knocks it out of the park as Batman reflects on his childhood goodbye to his then unnamed friend.

The intensity in Batman's eyes in the present combined with the emotional scene from the past makes this panel stick. It's great stuff, and Romita's work has had just as much personality as Snyder's writing throughout this series. Also, Romita's rain scenes fascinate me. Just absolutely enchanting work with so many layers and tones.

His and Dean White's work on the covers and interior have been nothing short of impressive. White's colors make me feel like he's having fun with this series, every action scene, every dark one-liner is emphasized by the intense colors. Those layers and tones don't work without great work on the colors, so just a hats-off to everyone for making this off-road adventure exactly that.

This isn't just a Batman dream team, it's a comic book dream team.

Rating: 9/10 spears in the back from KGBeast.

The over-the-top action, video-game Bat-gadgets combined with the most personality from Batman we've ever seen make this a must-grab book. Seriously, you will fall in love with Scott Snyder's version of Batman in All-Star Batman.